Rent Increase (Buildings Built After November 15, 2018)

Caselaw.Ninja, Riverview Group Publishing 2021 ©
Date Retrieved:	2024-05-06
CLNP Page ID:	1841
Page Categories:	[Contract Law, Leases, & Sub-Letting (LTB)]
Citation:	Rent Increase (Buildings Built After November 15, 2018), CLNP 1841, <5X>, retrieved on 2024-05-06
Editor:	Sharvey
Last Updated:	2022/01/11

Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17

Exemptions from rules relating to rent
6.1 (1) In this section,

“addition” means, with respect to a mobile home park or land lease community, an expansion beyond the boundaries of the mobile home park or land lease community; (“rajout”)

“commencement date” means the day section 1 of Schedule 36 to the Restoring Trust, Transparency and Accountability Act, 2018 comes into force. (“date d’entrée en vigueur”) 2018, c. 17, Sched. 36, s. 1.

Buildings, etc., not occupied on or before November 15, 2018

(2) Sections 120, 121, 122, 126, 127, 129, 131, 132, 133, 165 and 167 do not apply on and after the commencement date with respect to a rental unit if the requirements set out in one of the following paragraphs are met:

1. The rental unit is located in a building, mobile home park or land lease community and no part of the building, mobile home park or land lease community was occupied for residential purposes on or before November 15, 2018.

2. The rental unit is entirely located in an addition to a building, mobile home park or land lease community and no part of the addition was occupied for residential purposes on or before November 15, 2018. 2018, c. 17, Sched. 36, s. 1.

(3) Sections 120, 121, 122, 126, 127, 129, 131, 132 and 133 do not apply on and after the commencement date with respect to a rental unit if all of the following requirements are met:

1. The rental unit is located in a detached house, semi-detached house or row house which, on or at any time before November 15, 2018, contained not more than two residential units.

2. The rental unit is a residential unit that meets all of the following requirements:

i. The unit has its own bathroom and kitchen facilities.

ii. The unit has one or more exterior or interior entrances.

iii. At each entrance, the unit has a door which is equipped so that it can be secured from the inside of the unit.

iv. At least one door described in subparagraph iii is capable of being locked from the outside of the unit.

3. The rental unit became a residential unit described in paragraph 2 after November 15, 2018.

4. One or both of the following circumstances apply:

i. At the time the rental unit was first occupied as a residential unit described in paragraph 2, the owner or one of the owners, as applicable, lived in another residential unit in the detached house, semi-detached house or row house.

ii. The rental unit is located in a part of the detached house, semi-detached house or row house which was unfinished space immediately before the rental unit became a residential unit described in paragraph 2. 2018, c. 17, Sched. 36, s. 1.

Non-application of exemption under subs. (2) or (3)

(4) Subject to subsection (5), the exemption under subsection (2) or (3) does not apply with respect to a rental unit that is subject to a tenancy in respect of which a tenancy agreement was entered into on or before November 15, 2018. 2018, c. 17, Sched. 36, s. 1.

Application of subs. (4)

(5) Subsection (4) applies only with respect to the tenancy described in that subsection and does not apply with respect to any subsequent tenancy. 2018, c. 17, Sched. 36, s. 1.

Burden of proof

(6) For greater certainty, in an application to the Board in which the application of subsection (2) or (3) is at issue, the onus is on the landlord to prove that the subsection applies. 2018, c. 17, Sched. 36, s. 1.

...

38 (1) If a tenancy agreement for a fixed term ends and has not been renewed or terminated, the landlord and tenant shall be deemed to have renewed it as a monthly tenancy agreement containing the same terms and conditions that are in the expired tenancy agreement and subject to any increases in rent charged in accordance with this Act. 2006, c. 17, s. 38 (1).

(2) If the period of a daily, weekly or monthly tenancy ends and the tenancy has not been renewed or terminated, the landlord and tenant shall be deemed to have renewed it for another day, week or month, as the case may be, with the same terms and conditions that are in the expired tenancy agreement and subject to any increases in rent charged in accordance with this Act. 2006, c. 17, s. 38 (2).

...

113 Subject to section 111, the lawful rent for the first rental period for a new tenant under a new tenancy agreement is the rent first charged to the tenant. 2006, c. 17, s. 113.

...

116 (1) A landlord shall not increase the rent charged to a tenant for a rental unit without first giving the tenant at least 90 days written notice of the landlord’s intention to do so. 2006, c. 17, s. 116 (1).

...

120 (1) No landlord may increase the rent charged to a tenant, or to an assignee under section 95, during the term of their tenancy by more than the guideline, except in accordance with section 126 or 127 or an agreement under section 121 or 123. 2006, c. 17, s. 120 (1).

CEL-30463-13 (RE), 2013 CanLII 31608 (ON LTB)

6. The Board’s Form N2 Notice of Rent Increase Unit Partially Exempt contains four paragraphs of information in the section heading “Important Information About the Law”.

7. The Landlord’s letter to the Tenant does contain some of that information. However, a large amount of important information is missing. For example, the Board’s N2 form states “The Landlord must give the Tenant this notice at least 90 days before the date of the rent increase.” This information is not contained in the Landlord’s letter to Tenant.

8. The Board’s N2 form also states “A tenant does not have to sign a new lease when a fixed term tenancy ends. If a tenant decides not to sign a new lease, the tenant does not have to move, but the tenancy becomes month-to-month.” This information is also missing from the Landlord’s letter to the Tenant.

9. The missing information is not trivial. It informs tenants of important rights and statutory requirements (such as the 90 day notice requirement).

10. Since the Landlord’s letter to the Tenant does not contain the important information that is contained in the Board’s N2 form, the letter does not substantially comply with the contents of the Board’s N2 form.

TSL-88956-17 (Re), 2017 CanLII 142691 (ON LTB)

4. The Landlord’s application includes a Notice of Rent Increase (N2 form) dated March 7, 2017, advising of a rent increase on June 15, 2017. The N2 increases the rent from $1,275.00 to a new rent of $1,775.00 per month.

5. The Certificate of Service for the N2 indicates that service was made by sending the documents by courier to the Tenant on March 9, 2017. The courier slip, submitted by the Landlord attached to the certificate of service for the N2 filed in the present application, is printed on the bottom as an “invoice” copy. It contains the sender’s information in printed typeface, with the rest of the information completed by hand. In the same handwriting, the slip indicates it was picked up from Susan at 9 am and delivered to the address and received by “Chris” at 3:24 pm and references “re P.R”. This slip is addressed only to the address of the rental unit, and does not specify the Tenant by name in the address.

...

16. All of this leads to the conclusion that no Notice of Rent Increase was validly served on the Tenant on March 9, 2017. Therefore, by operation of subsection 116 (4) of the Act, the increase in rent claimed by the Landlord is void and the lawful rent remains at $1,275.00.

17. The parties agreed that if I find that there was no Notice of Rent increase validly served, there were no arrears owing by the Tenant to the Landlord and that the Landlord’s application should be dismissed. That being the case, the application will be dismissed.